Segmented food products such as sliced bread, for example are commonly handled by mechanical devices in facilities in high volumes and at rapid speeds. Such facilities may include, a food manufacturing plant, a restaurant, or other distribution or handling facilities. An inherent problem with the common handling devices is that for segmented food products damage may occur due to too great a pressure or force being applied to safely handle the product. Segmented food products are not generally mechanically strong or resilient to compression. The segments, or slices in the example of bread, tend to decouple under slight planar misalignment. In general the segments may be non-uniform and have different surface textures or levels of lubricity.
Likewise, if the segmentation is numerous or the product is dimensionally large then the required number of segmented food product stabilizers or tooling for handling the product becomes cumbersome and inefficient. Additionally, when segmented food products experience excessive handling, product defects occur such as tearing, compaction, crushing, and dust creation, the end result may be that the food product is unusable for its intended purpose. Such segmented food product handling concerns result in unacceptable amounts of product waste or damaged product as a result of the state of the art handling. On a commercial scale, such product handling challenges create inefficiency and increased manufacturing cost. What is needed is a handler that permits segmented food products to be quickly and efficiently handled while minimizing damaged or lost segmented food product due to handling difficulties.